Question of the Day

Should President Trump end 'chain migration?'

MANILA A grenade explosion killed three persons and wounded 50 yesterday after police said they had thwarted two other terrorist attacks, including one that may have targeted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The blast occurred around 9:45 p.m., while people were dancing on a basketball court that had been turned into a trade fair during May Day celebrations at Notre Dame village, part of Cotabato city, a police officer said.

Earlier, two large pipe bombs and a map of Davao city which Mrs. Arroyo visited a few hours later were found in a pre-dawn raid on a house about an hour's drive away. The map had markings that police said might have indicated attack targets.

American reporter held in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe Zimbabwean police arrested a journalist working for a British newspaper yesterday and charged him over an article that said a woman had been beheaded by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.

American Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper and a permanent Zimbabwe resident, was arrested a day after two reporters for the independent Daily News were arrested for reporting the same story.

All three have been charged under new legislation that imposes tight controls on the media. If found to have published "falsehoods," they could face a fine of up to $1,900 or up to two years in jail.

U.N., Iraq resume talks on weapons inspectors

NEW YORK Iraq and the United Nations began talks yesterday that U.N. officials hope will lead to the return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad.

But the Iraqis said they wanted the discussions to cover a broader range of issues, including U.S. threats to topple Saddam Hussein.

The second round of talks between U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in less than two months was taking place as debate intensified in Washington about whether the Bush administration will carry out an attack against Saddam's government.

7 hurt as two bombs explode in Madrid

MADRID Two car bombs exploded yesterday in the Spanish capital, one close to Real Madrid's soccer stadium just hours before a game. Seventeen persons were slightly injured.

Police had cordoned off the area across from Santiago Bernabeu stadium after a telephoned warning in the name of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

A second car bomb went off a half-hour later about one mile across town, Telemadrid TV station reported. There were no reports of injuries.

21 percent of Dutch back anti-immigrant party

AMSTERDAM One in five Dutch wants a new anti-immigrant party to help form a coalition government following elections in two weeks, according to an opinion poll released yesterday.

Twenty-one percent of those polled said they wanted newcomer Pim Fortuyn's party, which has been campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform, to join two established parties in forming the next government.

Jean-Marie Le Pen's French election success has focused attention on Europe's anti-immigrant movements, but Mr. Fortuyn has distanced his party from Mr. Le Pen.

Mr. Fortuyn started "Party Pim Fortuyn" in February after he was ousted from the Livable Netherlands party for making anti-immigrant comments.

NATO to end patrol of U.S. skies

BRUSSELS The NATO military alliance said it was ending its unprecedented operation to patrol the skies of the United States, begun after the September 11 attacks, because U.S. air-defense security had improved.

NATO used seven airborne warning and control system (AWACS) planes, consisting of international crews, to watch over the skies of the United States to free up U.S. planes for the military operation in Afghanistan.